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Shannon, Welcome back into the pool!
If you were diving in Florida I would say refresher but Buffalo is going to be cold dark waters and thicker wetsuit if not drysuit diving.
I would talk to shops there, maybe they’ll do a check out dive with you and then run you thru a river diving course to see if you can handle local diving or need more training.
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I agree with Lat. Go through the local dive shop and they should be able to determine your needs. Welcome back to diving and welcome to DB.
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Welcome back. I would do the full course myself. I got certed 16 yrs ago and i see how much has changed in that time.
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Plan to get recertified. 99.999% chance you will fail a basic skills test after all this time.
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Welcome back. About 11 months ago I was in your exact shoes just on the other side of the country. I got certified and was doing nothing but warm water diving. I then stopped for 7 years. Now I live in the Pacific Northwest. Because cold water diving is so much different I decided to up my training with AOW certification. It came with a lot of benefits.
I was able to meet local divers. Got a guided tour of a couple local sites. I improved my skill set for the different types of situations that you encounter in colder water. My instructor started me out with a pool fresher course gratis.
Even though diving is a safe sport it requires up-to-date experience to maintain that safety. Don’t risk your life and those diving with you.
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Hi Shannon, If you feel confident with your skills, a refresher would be fine providing your instructor goes over the physics, physiology & dive tables. The equipment hasn’t changed that much & your instructor will (should) go over them anyway. Welcome back :-)
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A full Refresher Course is all that is required...but from a Dive Center standpoint you will need to be comfortable and possibly one day might not be enough. Refresher is the place to start for sure though!
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